Updates! Pictures! News! Etc.

I had some adventures a few weeks ago I really meant to share, and then I got sick. So, I am updating with some cool pictures and details of all the fun I have had lately. Woohoo (or something)

My SweetPea had a birthday (as I mentioned before). She got all kinds of awesome loot, but the big winner this year was her very own, real, Guitar. She has wanted one for several years now but I've been hesitant to get her one- she's a little flighty and changes her mind a lot, I haven't played an instrument in a LONG time, and I did not want to spend a ton of money. I knew if I went to a guitar store, I would not get what she really needs- a good learning guitar. I'd end up with whatever the salesman thought he could sell me. (I know this about myself, I am very susceptible to sales pitches.) I don't know ANYTHING about guitars, but lots about other instruments.

My mom and stepfather have been playing guitar for over 20 years. They KNOW guitars. They have about 10 or so and love playing, performing, writing and enjoying guitars very much. They went to their local guy (who knows them well and wouldn't sell them junky stuff) and bought the SweetPea a beautiful guitar. Here it is:

The girl is thrilled beyond measure. I have helped her learn to tune it and I have taught her scales, but I know she needs LESSONS. SO, I am on the hunt for a local instructor that likes kids.

OTHER STUFF

We also went fishing (which I think I mentioned) and I have a picture or two. A fun time was had by all.

I noticed that I have taken a lot of SweetPea pictures and not many of TallBoy. So here he is at his fuzzy-wuzzy best.

I also have a picture of me, with the kiddos from my grandmother's 90th birthday party. I don't hate it, which surprises me a great deal.

I made a card a while back that I wanted to share, but forgot. It is for a friend nicknamed "Squirrel"-

He's The Dude's partner at Armored Gopher Games. He's officially been "adopted" by our family. I have baked him cookies, made him stromboli (his favorite), let all our friends know it was his birthday (and as much as he griped he liked it) and much more. He's in our scrapbooks, so he is family.

I also finished my brother's wedding album- it was a LOT of work, but I was really happy with the results and Fixit and his wife LOVED it. So all is good. A sample page (a picture taken by my camera rather than a scan because my scanner does NOT like my laptop at all. Grr.)

I have been really busy at work lately. Today was kind of a fun treat. This week we have had some customers in from Poland to try out their machinery. These guys are far away from home and don't know very much English. We have done a lot to try to make these guys feel comfortable and enjoy their visit. We normally order carry out lunch on Fridays so my boss paid for their meal and we all sat together in the lunchroom, eating and talking. I asked a lot of questions to the guys and soon we were talking about kids, and work, and food, and beer. They LOVE Budweiser! It seems funny to me that we go all the way to Germany for "good beer" and guys from Poland think Bud is "the best". Then we started talking about the beers they did NOT like, and it was a riot. They made fun of several beers for being "sissy beers" and named one brand they thought was better for a baby than grown ups. We really had a good time. One of the ladies in the office was having them over for dinner tonight, and then she and her husband were going to take the guys to the local mall to see kids in costume.

Apparently, they just don't do the same sorts of things for Halloween over in Poland and the idea of Trick-or-Treaters was very novel to these gentlemen. One of the guys was taking pictures with a camera he bought here because they are 3-5 times the cost in Poland. He got a big kick out of the decorations we had in the office, and the candy was puzzling to all of them.

I love that about my job- it is truly international. I have learned so much about different cultures, nationalities, languages and customs. It has made me a better, more well rounded "citizen of the world".

Life's good!

The Myth of Teenagers

There's a popular myth (or urban legend) out there in society that the moment your child turns 13, they become a member of an alien species known as Teen.

Apparently members of the Teen species are rude, insolent, smelly, disobedient, defiant and totally spiteful to their immediate family members as a matter of course. That the Teen species is allowed to full maturation is some sort of heroic effort on the families' parts and is worthy of medals and so on.

I have heard countless tales of how Teens have caused stress, financial hardship, family dissonance, grey hair, hurt feelings and even visits from the legal authorities.

I don't doubt the validity of the stories at all. I doubt the assumption or "pack mentality" that seems to go with Teens, implying that total "DEVO-lution" is inevitable and there is nothing to be done except to grit teeth and hope for the best.

I'm here to bust that myth right open.

Teens are not so dang bad. I honestly don't know a single one that I would characterize as a "bad kid". I do know of one or two who are dealing with bad life choices, in conjunction with parents that don't understand, like or enjoy them.

I think that's the key. I think it's important to like your kid for the people they are, and not who you want them to be.

I LIKE mine. He's smart, funny, independent, thoughtful, compassionate, obsessive, responsible and yes, at times, REALLY annoying. But he is a truly cool guy.

I don't do as many things with him as I did when he was little. Some of that is due to his really INDEPENDENT streak, and some is due to interests. He likes activities that until recently had no appeal to me.

I believe in "active parenting" (if that's a term) so I recognized that I was shortchanging TallBoy and set out to at least TRY his favorite activities.

I was wildly successful at headbanging- I have had lots of practice. However, a headache and bad hair resulted, so I don't do it a lot. He gets his love of reading from me, so trying that was no problem- except reading is fairly solitary and it didn't really add to our shared experiences. I tried Airsoft, but I really, really, really hate guns (even pretend ones) so that did not go well at all. I love basketball, but I am completely uncoordinated (dancing is not the only gross motor skill I lack) and so while it was fun, it was humiliating. And so on- I tried lots of his favorite things, and for the most part, I either had fun but won't do it again or hated it with a passion.

Until painting miniatures. I totally get why he spends so much time with his little metal guys. I do. They are very much like scrapbooking or cards- no right way or wrong way to do it. There's a lot of color choices in painting metal figures- and while I am not a trendy or fabulous scrapper/card maker, I have a good eye for color. So it totally translated to painting. Color is totally personal. So is style. Each figure I painted had it's own character and moments where I was equally frustrated and happy.

And now I have an activity I can sit and do with him, quietly- not invading his space, but being with him. Being there; available. He enjoys painting with me, and so I continue to paint (probably taking longer than I need to on my last two guys in order to spend time with him) and enjoy a new found hobby as well as the fun guy that is TallBoy.

He is also an avid cook, and loves spending time learning new recipes in the kitchen with me. He can make spaghetti, mac & cheese, eggs, bacon, grilled cheese, french toast, hamburger helper, cheeseburger soup and of course, biscuits and three different kinds of cookies. We're working on bread- bread is a process, though. I tend to use the recipe as a guide but work by smell and texture. It's been interesting teaching "texture" to him. But he listens and likes the adventure, so I keep at it.

I love being his mom. I love having a hand in helping him learn who he is, what works for him, and what does not. I love those "aha" moments where he totally GETS something I have been trying to explain to him. I love calling my dad up with yet another of his impossible to answer questions. (My dad knows everything, or at least says he does, haha.) I love tucking his way too big body into his bed at night. I love scaring him to pieces by coming around the corner when he least expects it. (I am terrible, I know.) I love asking him to get something from the top shelf because he is, after all, TallBoy.

I like my kid and I am having the time of my life with him as a teen. Maybe it's me as the parent that is breaking all the rules, but my Teen is not becoming an alien. I'm actually getting to know him better.

Reasons for Joy

The corn is coming down.

I am not sick anymore!

I went fishing with SweetPea and TallBoy on Sunday the 12th. I saw SweetPea catch her first fish (yay!) and she went on to catch a total of 6. The weather was perfect (75 with a slight breeze, sunny); there was a weenie roast & smores (again!) and we truly enjoyed ourselves.

SweetPea turned 12 on the 16th and had a fabulous birthday! She got loads of fun presents and enjoyed the whole week (presents came in little by little). Her favorite present is a guitar (thanks mom!) and now I get to help her learn to love playing music. Yay!

SweetPea, TallBoy & I drove up to Chicagoland area on the 18th to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. I saw family I hadn't seen in years and TallBoy completely amazed everyone with how TALL he is. (He recently grew a little- he is now 6 foot, easy.)

My mother rode in the car with us part of the way and we had a lot of fun talking.

My Brother (Fixit) and his wife loved the scrapbook album I made for their wedding present.

I love this part of fall- when things are harvested and it's cool and pleasant.

Basketball is almost over and I will have evenings at home, with kids, dog & the Dude again, very soon.

Despite being older, TallBoy and SweetPea still need their mom every now and then.

SweetPea & TallBoy are very affectionate kids and let me know they love me.

It is now two-blanket season. That means I have extra reason to snuggle The Dude, who is really WARM (he's covered in fur- he has his OWN blanket).

Life is full of reasons for joy. It''s our job to find them.

Books & Literature

I am a serious reading nut. I have actively been NOT reading for about 2 months now due to time issues. I just haven't had a minute where I felt I could devote myself to a book.

You see, when I read a book, that's ALL I do. I don't do laundry or wash dishes, or vacuum or put away laundry or put away dishes. or talk to the kids or The Dude, or pet the dog, or read the paper, or any of my other mundane life things. I sit in a comfy spot and read a book. I can (and do) often multi-task with TV, though. It drives The Dude CRAZY. He thinks I am reading and he'll channel hop, and I'll pipe up with "Hey, I was watching that".

Sunday I picked up a copy of Twilight at my friend's house and asked to borrow it. I've heard a lot about it but hadn't gotten a chance to read it yet. I had it done by Tuesday morning. Honestly, it is "meh", but I like some of the elements so I am interested in seeing where it goes. I have borrowed books 3 & 4 and TallBoy will get Book 2 from his school library for me.


Reading sort of runs in my family. My mom & stepfather are literature professors and my stepmom is a librarian. My stepmom's got an awesome living room that is floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves all the way around it (and the room is over 1000sqft)- and they are FULL of books. My dad is a consummate reader and always has been. All these people invested a lot in teaching me to read critically and to take away something more than just a story.

Books as an overall rule are some of my greatest friends. I adore finding inference, understanding tone, "listening" to voices, and gathering new places into my imagination and understanding. I truly find refuge in a good story- I especially like series with a fun character.

Books (fiction) are fun, inviting, and sort of disposable. Once I am done with one, I can move on and invest in something else. Literature is a different sort of thing entirely.

I couldn't possibly explain the major differences between casual fiction and literature, except that tone and intent are vastly different. This is mostly because I am not a literature studier or aficionado, but rather an explorer. I've read a great number of classics, a lot of modern American literature, a LOT of French lit, and some very unusual choices have come to me through friends, co-workers, the old book bin at my former employer, or my librarian friends through the years. Literature is something I hold onto and treasure for a long time, and utilize as a tool and place of learning as I change and grow.


My personal "place of solace" is Phantom Of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. it's got beauty, art, architecture, society, humanity, deceit, betrayal, revenge, and so much more. And it is very truly French- which I adore about it.

Any good finds lately? Anything you find yourself going back to again and again?

fall, drive to work

It's fall, so I thought I would share some of the beauty of central (flat) Illinois. I see this stuff on my way to work nearly every day. Some of it is MUCH prettier in the spring, some in the summer, and some in the fall. Almost nothing is really gorgeous in the winter except our little river when there is snow on the trees and the water is filming over. THAT is downright breathtaking.

I've got some corn, some general "out the window" scenery, and a few pictures of the sky as morning is breaking.

Our corn is *really * ready to come down. I know that the area farmers are trying to get their crops down and into the silos as quick as they can- these crops are precious to them. We heard about frost a couple counties over and the elevator across from my house was BOOMING the next day.

The light in the early morning is just beautiful. I love how it is breaking through the clouds here, illuminating little pieces of the world with brilliance.

Just the sunrise being inspiring, thrilling and spectacular. Love it. I see it every day and I am never unmoved.

A pretty grove along the side of the road on my way home.

This last one is an overpass that is being rebuilt. It was evaluated after the bridge collapse in Minnesota and deemed undriveable. The DOT came in about a month ago and started working. The work has been amazingly quick! They literally put warnings that the bridge would be out on a Monday and by the following Friday the bridge was GONE. Just this past week there was NO bridge at all- they were still working on the supports and pilings. I took this picture on Friday, and as you can tell, there is the beginnings of a bridge there now. They want it ready to drive on before November. Amazing what engineering and American workers can do.

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SweetPea and I went to a welcome wienie roast that our church held. (We have really only been going to this church for about 3 months.) It was at a small farm outside of another rural town nearby. The owner of the property raises beef cattle- and I have some pictures. He let SweetPea and a couple other kids go in the enclosure and FEED the cattle- SweetPea *loved* it. I'm fairly urban, so this was kind of new to me. The farm owner was very generous with his time and explained all about how he runs his cattle business (up to and including butchering). It was really kind of neat, and I really got to learn something totally new.

Here are some of his cattle, and their BEAUTIFUL calves can be seen in the left corner. They were SO pretty! I wanted to take one home, haha.

He also had a hay ride set up for the kids. Of course SweetPea wanted to go. Her friend "S" went with her and they had a blast. SweetPea practiced her "RockStar" look, and then posed nicely.

Of course, some of the parents wanted to ride too. It looked like everyone had a fun time.

It had been a LONG time since I had been to an old fashioned wienie roast. When I was young, my mom used to be friends with a guy that ran a Christmas tree farm. He used to do bonfires and haunted walks and cookouts all the time and we always went. It was really fun, we had a lot of room to run, and we ate until we nearly puked. We'd fall asleep on the way home in the car, and I'd wake up smelling all "woodsy" from the smoke. I really enjoyed myself today, and it brought back some truly wonderful memories.

Thinking about brothers!

I've got 3 of 'em. They are all younger. They are all very different from each other.

They are:
Oldest- "Soldier"
Middle-"Fix-it"
Youngest-"Rhett" (As in GWTW)


And they are all adults now.

Which is really, really weird. My "middle" (he was the baby for ages) brother got married in July to a FANTASTIC woman that I adore. Yay for her- she rocks. It was a little strange watching this man promise to love this woman and realize it's the same guy I held, rocked, diapered and teased incessantly.

Soldier is already married to a great gal from Canada. Again, it was weird watching him move into another phase in his life, after our lives were so intertwined for so long (he lived with me after discharging from the Army and prior to marriage)

Rhett is a strange creature. His exterior is southern charm, excellent manners and good breeding. Then he goes out to a party and he's very much the runnin' rebel.

I miss them, but I will see them in 2 weeks at a major family affair.

Tags

So I was tagged- a pretty generic "6 random things about you" tag.


1- I like my scrambled eggs with grape jelly. My kids think this is thoroughly NUTS.

2- I read very quickly. Not quite speed-reader level, but I can polish off a 600 page book in 5 or 6 hours.

3- I have yet to be beaten in a serious thumb wrestling contest.

4- I cannot dance. My feeble attempts make Peter Garret and Sinead O'Connor look coordinated.

5- My favorite color has changed 3 times in my life. (In comparison, my SweetPea's favorite color changed 3 times in a single day last week.)

6- I did not discover my birthmark until I was 12 or 13. (It's on my head, under my hair.)

Ta-da!

My metal!

I finally finished my 'jacks and I think they look wicked awesome.

They have a VERY Iron Man thing going on, but I am extremely happy with them. I haven't intentionally painted figures since TallBoy was a baby and I was really nervous about trying again. I am glad I did, but I don't know if I will play very much. Between time, money and a million other interests, WarMachine may be at the bottom of the pile.

But OH, I love painting. I really, really love painting them.

Here's my favorite:

Cards!

I have a fun bunch of cards to show. I hope you like them. My comments are below.

basic but cute



love this one!



very girly



one of my favorites in this bunch



not sure if this works or not



I'm in love with the simplicity of this.



my favorite color!



way cute.



Love everything about this one



sometimes simple is good!



it's pink. Please don't make me say anything more.



I absolutely love how fun this is!



fun!



pretty, elegant, good color.



Playing with an older set, and white on dark here.



My absolute favorite here. I love the color, shape, contrast, simplicity- everything about it.

You know the camera has a cord, right?

I am so oblivious to reality.

I have always used my computer's memory card reader and never thought twice about it. The camera came with a USB cord to allow me to upload photos sans reader. I never even got it out of the box. The camera is 4+ years old. I used my cord for the first time today after Fin laughed at me when I asked to borrow his laptop so I could upload my pictures and email them to myself.

The scrapbook I am working on (obviously not my brother's wedding album):

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

From Not Quite Pretty

It really IS a work in progress. I haven't decided if I am using pictures in it or not at this time. I know I'll be using lyrics from Mary J. Blige's CD "Growing Pains", specifically "Work in Progress", "Work This" and "Grown Woman" for journaling inspiration.

Next up, a slide show of my cards.

I think that needs a new post.

Arg!

TallBoy went to Homecoming last night. With a girl.

It was just as friends, but this is by far the biggest development in his social life in years. He was so excited about it he couldn't sleep Thursday night and paced a lot.

The night started well- we had the girl over for homemade pizza and cookies. He wore a polo (he is strictly a T-shirt kid). He bought her a corsage and paid for her tickets. He held the door for her. I drove them over to the game and they hung out and talked while watching our team lose (horribly) again.

Then another boy shows up and hits on this girl (who TallBoy REALLY LIKES and has been slowly trying to earn a position as boyfriend material with) all night. In front of TallBoy.

I was elected driver to and from Homecoming as The Dude had to work at 5 am today and would need to go to bed early. I am usually in bed by 10 at the latest and stayed up until almost 1am with picking the kids up, driving her home and dealing with TallBoy.

TallBoy did not have a fun night. He's too nice to say anything to either the girl or the guy and spent most of the night moping and being full of angst.

Then TallBoy couldn't sleep and was up at 4am. The Dude and I offered some advice and tried to help him gain some perspective. Because like it or not, TallBoy is in high school and he will encounter this sort of situation again. And he needs some help dealing with it.

While TallBoy was off at Homecoming, I made some cards. Mostly birthday cards, but a couple all occasion as well. I already had a large collection of "thank you"s made so I didn't need any of those. I took pictures of the ones I made and the ones I had to upload and show off. I also took pictures of my Khador figs and a scrapbook I am working on, for a virtual "progress report".

I am still using our backup computer because our regular one is STILL SICK from the dang virus. The backup computer does not have a memory card reader.

Arg!

Cooking - my love/hate relationship

I love cooking- when I am not tired or cranky, when I have no plans, and when my whole family will be able to enjoy my efforts.

I hate cooking- when I am tired, cranky, recently home from work, there are no ingredients in the house, SweetPea, TallBoy or The Dude will not be able to sit down and eat it, or when I have a bajillion things to do.

I am not a great cook, either. I have about 10 real recipes I do well and a lot of "OK" ones. I try to find easy, fun recipes that my World's Pickiest Eater (TM) *aka TallBoy* will enjoy. On a budget. I could tear my hair out just with all of that.

Then there is the dreaded "what do you want for dinner" discussion.

NO one at my house has an opinion on any regular basis- so I get relegated to cooking whatever seems easiest at the time because I am too tired to THINK about cooking. And the wonder is, they eat it. Usually with a smile and "thank yous".

But baking, I always like. I always enjoy trying new breads, cookies, rolls, desserts or what have you. I don't know what my fascination with the oven is, but anything I put in it brings about a general soothing feeling and a sense of peace.

This weekend I made some biscuits and some "everything" cookies- a cookie without flour. SweetPea enjoyed them very much, and so did Fin. TallBoy did NOT like them - they had a large amount of oatmeal, which he hates. They are eaten now and I am planning my next baking brigade.

But not cooking.

Life today

The Dude worked at the store 5 days this week. Because the store is 25 miles away, he stayed in town and didn't come home between jobs, and was gone from 5am to midnight on 4 of those days. The other, he left before I came home from work and I did not see him before I went to bed.

My wonderful teen son reminded me yet again why I do not own weaponry. (Grades and homework are NOT his strong point, regardless of how brilliant he is. ) My darling daughter was sick and I have no time off at work. The laundry was not done. Dishes were not done. Homework battles, sticking to my guns on discipline and other normal harried mom junk became a million times harder because I was doing it alone.

The single-married mom phenomenon is not unique. I know a lot of women whose husbands are in grad school, or who work construction, or who deal with deployments etc. Most of the women I know personally run their homes as their first job.

I work outside the home as well as run my household and I was on an even keel until the Dude decided to take on extra days at the store every other week. Now I am all out of whack and I couldn't even ask him to hold me while I whined about it. I'm learning not to whine and trying to get better at time management.

I just have a million things going on. I'm trying to learn frugal cooking, I have some baking projects on my agenda, I have a scrapbooking project I want to finish, I have 2 games now (invited to a new one recently and no character for a run tonight, eek), I am painting WM minis (Doomreavers and finishing Kommandos), making a Magic deck and sorting cards- plus SweetPea is in basketball & Girl Scouts, I have church events and a teenager with a social life.

I need a V8!

The *enemy* invaded!

No, not really. But it felt like it.

This past weekend was our town's small town "Krazy Daze" event (fall festival sort of thing). I knew that there were going to be all kinds of great activities (face painting, Karoake, dunk tank, cake walk, bike decorating etc) but I did NOT know they were having a car show in my front yard.

I looked out my window Saturday and there were a bajillion people in the empty lot ("my" front yard) across the street from my house. A million and one cool old cars, a tonna kids, and all the police for several miles. They were busily blocking off my little corner of the world with barricades and setting up events for the rest of the day.

I live on the back corner of a rectangular block which makes the main block in our little town. I am on the same block as the bank, grocery store, hair salon, hardware store, dollar store and consignment store for kids' clothes. There are 3 houses on my block- all on my back end. All the rest of the block is businesses. I was quickly getting blocked in (so I couldn't get OUT) so that other people could not park in the lot intended for events.

I ran outside and got my car moved so I could leave (which I had to do later anyway) and checked out the schedule for the events. I fished out some money for my kiddos to run about town with, and let them wander.


Things cleared up around 3-4 and I had my yard back, sort of. It was still hangout central for a herd of teenagers for a while.

Later in the day the town threw a parade. We live on the parade route and we make a habit of watching the parade from our front steps. My kids got tons of candy (even though they are a little old for parade candy) and then took about 5 HUGE handfuls over to a little girl who watched the parade from the other side of the street.

There was a street dance/music later and the TallBoy & Associates went out and had a nice time "hanging out" while being good.

Sunday morning, I took Cash on his EarlyAm(TM) walk and there were a good 20 bags of trash yet to be picked up. I had to be extra vigilant on the leash to make sure he didn't get any candy or gum. I also had to make sure he didn't eat leftover food or um, evidence of the beer tent.

I got a report from the owner of the grocery store (a SUPER nice guy) that the receipts from this past weekend were much better than expected due to nicer weather than the forecast predicted. He said there's a lot of money for some great future events and that the invasion while crazy, was worth it.

Entering Foreign Territory- Teen Dating

Well, color me befuddled.

My darling, adorable, freckled, super-cute "little star" went and got to be "TallBoy" and in the process has developed attractiveness to the girl kind.

GULP.

I'm actually pretty relaxed about it, but it is fairly amusing to me that my sweaty, smelly, not-entirely-social teen boy has suddenly turned into an obsessive neat freak that showers a million times a week and has a girl (and sometimes more than one) calling/texting/hanging out with him in a matter of WEEKS.

Gotta love the senior factor of Fin- but TallBoy did a lot of this himself. He is very confident about himself and does not let anyone else change the way he acts or what he does. He likes games, action movies, painting miniatures, reading way out there fantasy/sci-fi/morbid vampire stuff (um, he's MY kid) and is not really all that shallow. He doesn't kowtow or follow the back at ALL.

All this time he's been a little "different"; he's been lying in wait for someone to discover that he's ok for who HE is. He recently found a couple of girls who have figured out that his being "weird" is actually a GOOD thing, because he is not interested in acting like an idiot to impress his "buddies"- he wants to impress the GIRL.

He has been actively showing off his cooking skills ( I am also teaching him laundry so he will make good husband material) and has introduced quite a few of his friends to a large number of new bands out of our 1500+CD library. He likes poetry and actually has an interest in acting, so he's been getting loads of female attention lately.

And it is crazy. As a mom, I am just incredulous- but thrilled.

One of the girls he's interested in (at least a little, but possibly longer term than not) is the former girlfriend of Fin. I warned TallBoy of the potential for drama- quite loudly. This girl is so cute I'd hit on her if I were male. She's also 17 and drives. I heard a few interesting comments about the age difference; but The Dude is almost 6.5 years older than I am, so I can't really say a lot. I CAN give good advice. I talk to TallBoy a lot about a variety of things and amazingly enough, he listens. Mostly.

The other girl is one much closer to his age, but VERY recently broke up with one of TallBoy's friends' brothers. More drama, anyone? Again, I have very little room to talk as I dated The Dude's roommate before I dated The Dude, and The Dude dated my former best friend.

Ah, the nature of relationships and how they become tangled. I CAN give good advice, though. TallBoy listens- mostly.

TallBoy and the younger girl (no nickname as yet) are going to Homecoming "as friends". TallBoy had not completely thought about this proposition as he did not know or understand that he was paying for WAY more than his ticket. (Her ticket, a flower/corsage, meal... ) I WILL teach this boy manners if it kills me.

He does not know if she is interested in him as a "boyfriend" yet, but she's been at our house 4 nights this week. She's enjoyed herself with him and has asked to come over again.

So far we've set some house rules- but "dating" has not officially begun. I am not sure I am ready- but I can't fail HIM either.

I just have to learn how to hide grey hair.

"You give it a cold"

Independence Day is a silly, over the top adrenaline movie and I still love it to pieces.

Jeff Goldbloom takes down the evil alien empire with a COMPUTER VIRUS, bless his little heart.

My computer was recently infected by a less lethal (but still frustrating as heck) virus and I have been out of commission. I am currently using a backup computer and trying to get back to normal after no computer for a week.

I can live without it, but I have missed my daily fix of TwoPeas and blog wandering. I have also missed my web comics and other internet vices.

So I am sort of back but probably limited...

And my TallBoy has a plethora of females paying attention to him, the SweetPea has been kicking butt and taking names on the basketball court, I have been home less than I have been outside the house this past week and I really want to vent. Soon, I hope.

17 (Again)

I've been passively following the presidential election race/coverage for a while. I was totally relieved when Hillary was NOT chosen as Obama's running mate, but other than that I haven't really paid a ton of attention.

Until recently.

I am a younger-ish person and I remember being 17 VERY well.

At 17, I was engaged to be married.

I was a senior in high school. I wasn't planning my prom, or worrying about who my roomie in college might be. I was planning a wedding, a move 200+ miles away (with no car), finding affordable housing for myself and my soon to be husband (no small feat in a college town). My intended had the "honor" of being older- by 6 years. A teacher made it clear that she felt I was the victim of statutory rape. I know several "well meaning" adults spoke to my father about the situation privately.

I dealt with the question, "are you pregnant?" every single time I told someone of my plans to get married. Several people made very loud (and rude) judgements about my father's parenting abilities. I got lots of funny looks. I had people literally counting the months from my annoucement to my wedding out loud on their fingers in front of me. I got lots of interesting advice and commentary about the likelihood of my intended marriage's length.

And it was hard. I cried a lot. I got mad a lot. I was a stressed out wreck and my dress almost didn't fit because I put on weight from all the headaches. (I eat when I am stressed.) My fiance at the time (now The Dude) listened to me vent a LOT.

I was NOT an embarrasment to my father. I was NOT something he was "sad" about. I was NOT a dissapointment or a "bad thing".

And I was NOT pregnant.

I just can't imagine how hard this time is for Bristol Palin. I'm sure that no one in her family wanted this to come out the way it did. I'm sure that Bristol didn't want or need the additional stress right now, at a time when life is hard enough. I wish that I could send her a hug and offer her some support.

I didn't have a lot of rules when I was at home, but "don't get pregnant" was one of them. I know how easy it could have been. I know how simple just "one time" is (my SweetPea is a result of "one time") and how hard it is to navigate that at a young age.

And now all these implications and accusations that Sarah is somehow deficient- they make me angry. And sad.

I know I will be paying a lot more attention to the presidential election race for a while. I just hope Bristol can take it.

Bleacher Butt

I am officially a SportsMom.

I have a SweetPea in Basketball (just got out of Softball, formerly played soccer) and TallBoy plays Basketball when it rolls around.

I travel all over G-d's creation, putting unknown amounts of miles on my car, watching my kids play. I know ALL the names of my kids' teammates. I cheer (LOUDLY). I clap, cajole, complain and make interesting comments about refs. I eat hot dogs for dinner more often than I really like. I pay overinflated prices for water & Snickers.

I love every minute. Watching my kids smile, laugh, play hard, be good sports, work hard to be on a team, cheering on their friends and moving outside their comfort zone is immensely rewarding.

I've met other SportsParents and gotten to know a lot of them much better. I have learned a lot about sports I have no interest in, and gotten a very sore backside.

I have also gotten lost many many times. I am fairly inept at going anywhere I have not been before, and am TERRIBLE with directions. More than once I have downloaded the Navigation tool on my cell phone to find the little town we are supposed to play in next. More than once I have called another parent, completely and utterly lost. Of course they try to help- but the conversation usually goes like this:

Them: "Where are you?"
Me: "I don't know!"
Them: "What do you see around you?"
Me: "Corn. A Barn. Some more corn."
Them: [BIG SIGH] "Is there a crossroad anywhere near you?"
Me: "Yes, but it's turned around. Someone hit it. I can't tell what road I'm on."

And so on.

I have started following another mom to the games, and that has helped. I have gained some independence through sports (I am usually not allowed to go anywhere new alone. I usually end up lost, see above.). I now know where every Casey's within 30 miles of my home is, as well as any little eateries.

I know which towns have way too many girls (there are 2 towns with more than 20 girls on their basketball teams in our league) and the towns with not very many at all (1 town cancelled basketball this year due to not enough girls). I know which towns have good concessions and plan accordingly. I know which towns have nice bathrooms and which I want to stop at Casey's FIRST.

Our girls won their first game 15-12 today and I have bleacher butt. I am a SportsMom.

LEGENDS!

The new Iron Kingdoms WarMachine supplement, Legends, has been released.

I have not had a chance to read it all the way through- just a quick look through at WAY too early this morning. But I can tell you that Khador got some friggin' AWESOME models and units. I love the Dogs!

I was discussing the supplement with the Dude and TallBoy today and had a collassal misunderstanding of "nuclear grenades" as "nuclear NADS" and hilarity ensued. Good stuff when you can laugh till you cry with your husband and kid through adolescent humor.

I am hoping to paint this weekend. I want to put my Devastator together, too. Everything I've done is a little Iron Man-esque, but I am in love with the end result.

Games on the horizon: I have been puting thought into a CSI-like RPG where the idea is to catch criminals using thinking & detective skills. Don't know what I would use for that (very few systems really "get" sciences well), but I have TONS of source material.

I am also getting very very tired of Magic, but still considering becoming a Sanctioned Judge and running 2x a month flash events at Armored Gopher. Still mulling it and the logisitics over. I understand the test is more than Magic, including Axis & Allies and other games Hasbro produces. I'm not that familiar with the process, so I need to find out more before a decision is made.

I have scrapbooking on the agenda for the weekend, as well as baking. Monster cookies may make a comeback- it's been over a year and the natives are restless for my all-time best chocolatey goodness.

PEACHES

I love peaches.

There is almost nothing in the universe better than a fresh peach.

One of my 3 brothers was recently married in Arkansas. On the way down, we saw stands and stands of fresh peaches- but I didn't buy any. I was killing myself for it later, but no peaches.

There's a little timy grocery store on the same block as my house. The owner Rick buys lots of fresh produce and had peaches the other day. I bought some because they smelled SO good, walking in the door. I couldn't resist.

I decided to make a cobbler. I'll be honest, I am not sure it turned out "right" but it tasted wonderful.

Look how beautiful these guys are! I cut them into halves, then quarters, then halves again.

Then I put them in a pan with a cup of water and a cup of sugar, a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon to make a simple syrup. I boiled the misture until the sugar was dissolved and let it simmer 7-10 minutes.

They will get soft and squishy, YUM.

While the peaches are simmering, take a stick of butter and put it into the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish. Put the dish in a 350 degree oven, and let the butter melt.

In a mixing bowl, mix 1 cup sugar and 3/4 cup flour together. Slowly add 3/4 cup milk to the flour mixture until completely blended, making a silky batter.

Carefully take the baking dish with the melted butter out of the oven, and slowly pour the batter into the dish. DO NOT MIX. Then add your peaches. Again, do NOT mix.

Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until batter is golden brown.

As I said, I am not sure mine turned out right, because the batter is supposed to rise over the peaches and become a crust, and mine did not. It cooked into a chewy, texture rich cake-like stuff that tasted fabulous, but was UNDER the peaches. Still Yummy!

I am still playing with this, but it was so good!